Minnesota Geological Survey
M-118, One Hundred Years of Mining: Alterations to the Physical and Cultural Geography of the Western
Half of the Mesabi Iron Range, Northern Minnesota
Compiled and authored by
R.S. Lively, G.B. Morey, and Emily J. Bauer
Reference as:
One hundred years of mining: alterations to the physical and cultural geography of the western half of
the Mesabi Iron Range, northern Minnesota. R.S. Lively, G.B. Morey, and E.J. Bauer. 2002. MGS
Miscellaneous Map Series, M-118, 4 pls. Scale 1:100,000. Paper plots. Pl. 1, land-surface topography;
pl. 2, drainage and cultural features; pl. 3, topographic disturbance; pl. 4 bedrock geology.
The data and results of this project are presented as ArcView Shape files that are compiled within an
ArcView project entitled m118.apr. All of the map and plate files are include. The files can be unzipped,
using the WinZip program available on the Internet, to other drives and retain their original read/write
permissions.
A copy of the zipped files and the unzipped project can also be obtained on a CD by contacting the MGS
Map Sales office at 612-627-4780, ex. 238. Paper plots of the map plates can also be obtained. Each
sheet is approximately 50 inches long by 42 inches high.
Be aware that the ArcView project m118.apr requires the ArcView extensions Spatial Analyst and 3-d
Analyst to open and properly display the map plates in ArcView. The metadata for various grids, lines
and shapefiles are included.
A list of the files in the project is given below:
Folder: m-118
m118.apr—ArcView 3.x project-requires Spatial Analyst and 3-d Analyst to run.
Grids
dnrgd—surface elevation grid of study area, derived from 1999 DNR Mesabi Elevation Project
dnrgdcl1—clipped surface elevation DNR grid for inset on Plate 3.
grid12—grid used to create the shaded-relief map of the 1899 surface
grid18—grid used to create the shaded-relief map of the modern surface
grid24—grid used to create the shaded-relief map of the difference between the modern and the
1899 surface
leitcl1—clipped surface grid used to create the 1899 surface inset map on Plate 3
leithgd—grid of the 1899-1900 topographic surface within the study area
resicl1—clipped elevation difference grid for inset on Plate 3
residualgd—grid of the difference between the 1899 and 1999 surface grids
Shape or Image Files:
bdrkclpd1—modern bedrock geology polygons clipped to study area
colrnclpd—Cretaceous geology polygons clipped to study area
contourlns—contour lines of the 1899-1900 topographic surface
dnrleith2adj.bmp—regional 1999 topography with 1899 data overlay for comparison
faults—fault lines to go with modern geology
glg_1899—geology polygons from the 1899 field maps
insetcontln—clipped contour lines from the 1899 surface used on Plate 3
insettiff—TIFF image of one of the original USGS field maps
leith drainage-lakes—lake outlines from the original 1899 maps
leithtrclp—Township and Range lines clipped to study area
leithtrsclp—Section lines clipped to study area
mesablakes—lake outlines from topographic maps
minepts—point locations of mines from the 1899 maps
mncomdt--polygon file of Minnesota counties
outcropclpd—outcrop polygon locations from modern mapping
papg—outline of study area
railroads—railroad lines from topographic maps
readme—this document
rivers—river lines from topographic maps
roads1—major roads
roads2--minor roads and streets
studyarea—generalized outline of Mesabi Iron range showing western half as study area
testpits and outcrops—point files showing location of outcrops and other features from the 1899
maps
westdmp2—mine dump polys from 1899 maps
westhy—streams from 1899 maps
westmf—roads, railroads, trails and street from 1899 maps
westmine—mine polygons from 1899 maps
wrkmrk-Uof Mn wordmark
wwpt—water well and drillhole points and data from CWI
Other folders and files
Files
1_350,000rake.tif and 1_350k_rake.tif rake scales as tiff images.
pl1edited.txt—text for plate 1
pl2edited.txt—text for plate 2
pl3edited.txt—text for plate 3
pl4edited.txt—text for plate 4
readme.txt—this file in text with line breaks format
Folders
avls—legend files
1899bgpg—legend for 1899 geology polys
1899pt—legend for 1899 point data digitized from field maps
k—Cretaceous legend
modbgpg—legend for modern geology polys
wells—legend for cwi well point data
info—Info files associated with the grids. It is very important not to delete this folder
metadata--metadata information for the shapefiles and grids in this project.
Metadata for thems such as TRS, and roads etc from topographic maps can be found at the Minneosta
Dept. of Natural Resources Data Deli web site: deli.dnr.state.mn.us/
bgpg1999—bedrock geology metadata, also applies to the Cretaceous bedrock theme.
cultural1899—metadata for all point feature themes digitized from USGS 1899-1900 field maps
culturalmod—metadata for all features such as road, rails, streams etc. obtained from DNR and
USGS maps
Cwiverr.doc—metadata for CWI water well points.
differencegd—metadata for grid showing the difference between the 1899 and 1999 topographic
surface
glg_1899--metadata for 1903 geology map
mgsattribute.pdf—metadata about MGS attributes used in some of the data tables
oc1999-metadata for 1999 outcrop data
pits_oc1899—metadata for 1899 point data
topo1899—metadata for 1899 topographic grid and shaded-relief map
topo1999-- metadata for 1999 topographic grid and shaded-relief map